About Us

Monday, February 29, 2016

Many of us remember the "Ice Bucket Challenge" for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) a year and a half ago. Achieving pop-culture status, it raised a lot of money, including here in Second Life. Today, the quest for funds for research continues. Recently Bryn Oh teamed up with an Italian ALS fundraising group, contributing an artistic exhibit for an art auction, with the proceeds going to charity.

Gemma Cleanslate recently checked out Betty Tureaud's new exhibit at LEA 27, which was part of a four sim area marked 5D on the map, and a collaboration with three other artists: Tansee, Gem Priz and Mandel Solano. She explored around for a while, then wrote about her adventure. So what did she think?Read Gemma's story in Design.

There were a few events that took place this weekend in Second Life. The final Relay for Life spinoff event before the main season, "Paint Second Life Purple," started, with the RFL "Home and Garden Expo" still going on.. The steampunk-themed community of Caledon celebrated its tenth anniversary. Two fundraiser events for the "Homes For Our Troops" veterans charity took place, the monthly one at Veterans Isle organized by Frets Nirvana, and an ongoing one at Grand Manor with music eventx most days (pictured above) that lasts until tonight.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

The Senchai Library describes itself as celebrating "the Celtic tradition of stories told around the hearth or in the
pub to friends, family, and welcomed strangers. Seanchai Libraries
bring stories of all kinds to life." They have a list of events from Saturday today to Thursday.

Just
three weeks shy of the ninth annual conference,
Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education
unveils its program. This year, we are
staring into the Horizon, which casts long rays
of light over a panorama of research and best
practice. Our selected presenters in the
academic and communities of practice categories
have once again demonstrated the very best work
in their respective fields. We are excited about
the diversity of topics and disciplines in this
year’s conference program.

Our
communities in Second Life and
OpenSimulator have helped us make possible a
conference on two platforms. While the majority
of our program will take place in Second Life,
we have some exciting sessions planned for AvaCon Grid as well.

We
also have a few surprises, the first of which is
another special appearance by Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab, who will once
again do what he does best: respond to audience
questions and engage with communities that use
Second Life.

If you’re looking for the
next hot topic or an opportunity to network with
others who have a similar vision, come engage in
our Quadrivium discussions. We have one planned
for each day of conference, on topics that are
sure to extend the conversation long after the
conference is over.

We encourage you to
register for this free
conference. With the range of content offered by
this year’s presenters, along with many social
and professional networking opportunities, we
are confident you will find something of
interest. Possibilities await at the next
horizon, maybe sooner than you expect. Get your
Passport to the
Metaverse – the first of the Immersive
Experiences adventures begins on the 28th of
February! Stay tuned for more surprises as we
get closer to conference time.

Friday, February 26, 2016

In real-life, the person behind Becky Shamen's avatar has been involved in a number of things. At one point, she took a try at designing a kind of air-filled structure that could be used to make floating builds on the water, as small as a toy or as large as an island or town. She recently did a few builds in Sunny Beach using virtual reproductions of the process. Then wrote about what would be involved in real life.

The
2016 Relay For Life of Second Life campaign is kicking off on
March 6th 2016 and to prepare for this the Relay For Life
volunteers will be painting the Second Life Grid Purple. This
is a community effort to raise awareness throughout Second
Life about Relay For Life and you are invited to join us on
February 28, 2016 from 1 - 6 pm SLT for our kick off party!

Since
2004, Relay For Life has been growing through the virtual
worlds and raising money for the American Cancer Society. In
the past 12 years, this signature fundraiser has raised over
2.5 million USD leading to assistance globally in funding
programs and global partnerships in the fight against cancer.

The
announcement to the Second Life grid that Relay For Life is
about to start comes from the launch of our Paint SL Purple
campaign that begins on February 28th. Sims, businesses,
communities and a flood of volunteers will celebrate the power
of HOPE by turning the entire grid purple for 7 days. This
will be a good opportunity to visit with new survivors,
caregivers, volunteers and other who might not know about our
mission and get the excitement of our journey in the forefront
of the minds of all of Second Life.

Mark
your calendar for Feb.28th and come out in your purple to join
our fight!

Frets Nirvana's monthly music concert to benefit the "Homes For Our Troops" charity is taking place this Sunday at Veterans Isle. From 5PM SL time to 9PM SL time (Midnight EST), four musicians will perform on stage: Lyndon Heart, Zak Calxton, Shaye Dezno, and Frets Nirvana himself.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

The other day while dropping in at Creations for Parkinsons, I ran into Silvia Ametza. She struck up a conversation with me, and invited to show me a few builds she and her friend Aimee Louise Destiny (aimeelou.destiny) had been working on.

Among the first things Silvia showed me was a riverboat. It had a good amount of detail, including an engine and furnishings on the inside. And yes, the ship could sail around.

Another thing Silvia showed me was this drawbridge, which went up or down from the control room she was in. Elsewhere was another stretch of bridge that could light up at night.

Hearing about the Newser, Silva told me she'd soon build something else worthy of our attention. Not sure how long it will take. So here's a few examples of what she has.

The Independent State of Caledon will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this coming Friday the 26th with dances and events. Caledon is a thriving Victorian/Steampunk-themed community, started in 2006 by Desmond Shang. It has grown steadily since then to a present 33 sims and 2057 citizens of all races. Even though the land is steampunk we are far from a demanding dress code and guest are totally welcome.

Following the dance and sharing it's own anniversary with Caledon will be the Caledon Catgirl Brigade 7th Birthday Ball & Caledon Anniversary Wrap-Up Party starting at 9:30pm SLT till midnight. They stated "The night promises to be a blast (literally as we'll blow the place apart with fireworks and other bewm for the finale of the evening!)"
Place: Caledon Pensans (125/142/186)

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

With a little help from ShadowRene Ivanova. For those who don't know, the ancient Greeks believed the souls of the dead had to be ferried past the River Styx by Charon the Ferryman who demanded a coin for his services.

On the weekend of February 21 and 22, the Roma historical roleplay community held their Lupercalia festival. For those who don't know, it was a Roman predecessor to Valentines Day, though very different from it's modern replacement. The festival included a number of events from horse racing to dances. But it began with a recreation of the ancient Roman ritual for the holiday. Deaflegacy was there, and wrote about it.

Homes For Our Troops is known in Second Life for it's benefit event at the last Sunday of each month at Veterans Isle. But this month, there's another one at the Grand Manor sim which began on Sunday February 21 and lasts until Monday February 29.

The event was mentioned a few days ago in the official Second Life blog, when there was a call for content creators to offer items up for sale for charity as part of the event.

The Second Life community likes to participate in many charitable
organizations and fund-raising events - it's one of the many great
things about this community! Second Life Resident Blaze Teardrop is currently looking for
designers who are willing to participate in an event this coming weekend
to benefit the HomesForOurTroops organization. Any designers who are interested in participating should
send a notecard to Blaze Teardrop or simplerosey resident inworld as
soon as possible. Items do NOT need to be a new item.

Blaze Teardrop, the owner of Alpha Labs, is one of three people in charge of the event, along with Crowe Blackheart and Simplerosey Resident. Crow is the person for DJs and live musicians interested in taking part in the event to contact. In his profile, Blaze stated he is with the California National Guard.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

It's another exciting week of events at the Cutlass clubs as the month of February comes to a close. At Club Cutlass, Things get "unbelievable" and "vibrant" with "Best in U and V." Then it's time to bring out the bling in "Best and Silver and Gold." And finally it's a trip to the surf and sand with "Best in Beach." At the Happy Vixen, the energetic DJ Tantari starts it's week with a little flight time with "Best in Wings." Then comes an event on the techy side, with "Cyberpunk." DJ Rose closes the club's week with an event of which we will be "brief" in describing with "Boxers and Panties."

Monday, February 22, 2016

It was quite a weekend in Second Life. The Roman community held it's Lupercalia festival, several events over two days. The Science Circle had a couple discussions. Second Life artist Bryn Oh put up a work of hers for auction at an ALS benefit (pictured above). A new theater opened to show a classic play. These and more happened this weekend. We'll get to some of them in detail when we have a moment to write about them.

Bryn Oh is offering one of her artwork creations up for auction to raise money for a charity for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis aka Lou Gehrig's Disease). She explained the details in her blog, giving a personal account of her father's mobility gradually taken by the disease, "like this bird. Flying, making song and forever on the move until
suddenly a string catches its foot. It gets more and more trapped until
eventually all is taken from it."

"The work is simply called "To Dad, Love Bryn" and all proceeds from its auction go to AISLA Onlus.
If you wish to donate, listen to music or bid on this work then here is
the slurl. The event begins tomorrow at 2pm SLT with Lisa Brune
performing and will have various musicians and DJs until February 28th
when the auction and event closes. There are three other wonderful
artists involved with original artwork you can bid on as well, Mistero
Hifeng, Solkide Auer and Kicca Igaly."

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Royal Opera, Royal Theatre and A-List bring to you the magic of The
Little Prince, based on the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, produced by
Xavier Thiebaud, Directed by Andy Loon and performed by the artists of
Royal Theatre. Join us this coming Sunday at 1 PM SL time!!!

Friday, February 19, 2016

Becky's travel's recently took her back to a place she had gone to before, Vanwenia, a group of Fantasy-themed roleplay sims not far to the west of the Sunweaver Estates. Back then, she hadn't seen many of the local dragons. So under the guise of her dragon avatar "Katzu," she headed back with the goal of finding them.

When the designer for Kushi Vyper's texture store's website and HUD was suddenly offlined, she had to not only look for new talent to replace him, but pay for the tasks as well. As part of the staff of a charity in real life, the Tibetan Education Fund, she had the idea. She and her partner are planning a fundraiser with all money going over the cost of her projects going to the charity. Deaflegacy Darkbloom talked to them, and wrote about the upcoming event.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

The 2016 Relay for Life Hope and Garden Expo is taking place now in Second Life. The Expo actually started on Sunday February 14th, though many missed hearing about it with so much else that was going on, it being Valentines Day. As the name implies, there's a large selection of products for homes and yards available for purchase, with a share of the profits going to the Relay for Life.

There are ten temporary sims east of the American Cancer Society island available for shopping and other activities (screenshot of the map was taken at night so there would be fewer green dots). There's a variety of stores to shop in, including gachas.

According to the Expo blog, "Expo exhibitors are required to have two 100% donation items at the
Expo. These items must be new and exclusive to the Expo for the duration
of the event. 100% of registration fees, sponsorship fees and donation items are
paid to Relay For Life of Second Life. Gachas are a new opportunity to
the Expo this year, and 50% of the proceeds from these will be paid to
RFL." One can check the blog for more information at: https://slhomeandgardenexpo.wordpress.com/ There's also a shopping guide available (here).

There will be some events at the Expo. Today at 4PM for instance will be the Lantern release from the theater roofs. Prim Perfect will also be holding events over the next several days. One can read the schedule of events here: https://slhomeandgardenexpo.wordpress.com/events-at-expo/ The Expo will go on until Sunday March 6.

When someone departs Second Life, if often goes unnoticed. Sometimes his or her friends wonder what happened, but without information, there's not much else that can be done. When it's know a resident has died, sometimes the residents hold a memorial event in their honor, such as the remembrance and dance recently held for Shady Fox. In the case of Vickie Maidstone's friend Riko Kamachi, her response was to build a memorial shrine in her memory. She recently contacted the Newser about her work.

One Billion Rising
certainly was a spectacular event as usual from opening to close. The dj stage
was filled for most of the time with numerous DJs donating their time to
perform. Some merchants had donated gifts that were available at the stage too.
The stage was crowded all day. There were dance performances that included
various dancers at both 10am and 10pm. The Shining Starlettes were on stage at
12pm The 2LEI put on quite a party between 12 and 3pm with Tansee putting on her
marvelous particle show at their installation site. If you have never seen her watch for a
show somewhere sometime.

At the same time there was a
presentation by quite a number of poets presenting in Poets Against Violence.
This included a special performance of the play ‘The Lost Pleiads’ by Bhelanna
Blaze. It was a busy day on the four sims. People spent time on the walkways
visiting the various installations as well as attending activities. I took a
picture of most of the installations and have some of them for you. The sims
will be there on Monday but the take down day is Tuesday. I am glad to be a part
of this event every year and look forward to the next one. Thanks to all of the
committees who worked so hard to make it a day to remember.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Valentine's Day is over. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to do this week. The Sunweaver clubs have a whole list of events. The Happy Vixen has one more V-Day event before leaving it behind with "My '80s Valentine" with the energetic DJ Tantari. They're following it up with a little swashbuckling fun with "Pirates," and finally things go "far out" with "Star Wars vs Star Trek." At Club Cutlass, things get terrific and tremendous with "Best in T." Then it's time for a little footwork on the "Sock Hop." And finally it's time for the Tiny Empires players to show their status at the "Royal Ball."

February 6 was the day of the monthly crew meeting for the Second Life Newser team. Attending were Becky "Sha" Shamen, Gemma Cleanslate, Deaflegacy Darkbloom, Nydia Tungsten, Wesley Regenbogen (not in the picture), and myself. The meeting took place at the Newser office in HV Community.

We discussed a number of topics, such as Valentines Day, Superbowl Fifty, and the "One Billion Rising" demonstration. Gemma had volunteered to be a greeter at the last event, showing off her shirt.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Among the volunteers working at this weekend's "One Billion Rising" was Ladyslipper Constantine. She has been involved with several groups and activities in Second Life, though is best known for her work with Burning Life/Burn2 and DRUM. Recently, the Newser had a chance to interview her.

Friday February 14 was the "Hug a Linden/Dunk a Linden" event at the recently renovated Isle of View. Among those there was Deaflegacy Darkbloom. Darkbloom took a few pictures and observations of the event, and it was more than just residents tossing a few balls at Lindens, or giving them hugs, but residents coming together for love.

The weekend was an eventful one with much to see and do. Friday was the "Hug a Linden/Dunk a Linden" event at the newly expanded Isle of View. Sunday had the Second Life part of the worldwide One Billion Rising demonstration in support of worldwide women's rights. Besides these events, there were others, such as the live music and DRUM events at Creation for Parkinsons, the Hearts and Hooves dance at Trotsdale, and a number of other events across Second Life.

We'll report on these, and more, later in the week when we have the time to write.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Taken with the help of ShadowRene Ivanova. Looks like Cupid got caught trying to pull one of his pranks. To get out of it, he'll have to use one of his golden tipped arrows on someone, and hope the guy doesn't have a snake phobia.

What's up everypony letting you all know again about the Hearts and Hooves Dance in Trotsdale this Sunday (February 14th) at 3PM SLT! We will have music, ponies, fun and prizes! One of the prizes is a Hearts and Hooves Exclusive by Sweet Elite Boutique! Bring yourself, bring your friends or bring your special some pony and have an awesome time!

There will be a teleporter located in Trotsdale Town Square that will take you to the party area as well as a landmark and SLURL in notices! Make some plans to drop on by and hang out with amazing ponies while having a blast. There will be music, ponies and exclusive prizes!

Saturday, February 13, 2016

The committee for
the One Billion Rising is to be congratulated for all their hard work preparing
for the big Event on the 14th of February.

The first part I
was involved in was dancing to the wonderful music of Break the Chain for a new
One Billion Rising video. That was great fun to do. It was a long taping since
as usual there were crashes and other interferences but lots of fun. I loved
being in the original video and so glad to make this one too! Take a look at the
marvelous outcome. https://vimeo.com/155103784

My next
preparation was to meet with a group training session with Saffia Widdershins. I
have been a greater at the OBR for the past two years and will do it again this
year with old friends and new. The OBR has an office at the Non Profit Commons
and we met there by the fire to review strategies for making all welcome to the
event and guiding them to the stages and
activities.

Saturday I took at
tour of the area for the paper and visited all the sites where builds were
completed. I ran across some of the
builders working and took pictures of some for you to see. Our own DrFran has a
lovely build expressing “Violence against women brings nothing to the table.”
Giovanna Cerise was working on her
build regarding child brides and imploring “Let her become woman. “ The stage is
massive and the center point is at the meeting of four sims so many visitors can be
accommodated at all the events at once.

Don’t miss it! It is only here for one
day, Valentines Day, though I think the sims will be there for a few days so you
can go through the wonderful creations the builders have placed there for the
mission of the event. Check out the website for information on event times and
don’t miss it!! https://onebillionrisingsl.wordpress.com/

One of the Sunweaver group is becoming a little less active on the Internet. Perri Prinz announced on her Symphonic RP Livejournal blog that she will no longer be writing additional entries, "The Bunny Has Left the Building."

After 13 years of keeping this blog I have finally decided to close it. And, in doing so, withdraw everything I've attempted to contribute to the general common sense of the Internet. The main reason for this is that I've grown too ill to write articles and essays anymore. I can still work on stories to a certain extent, but I do that in another blog.

Perri Prinz has been around in Second Life for several years. As part of the Sunweaver community, she has been known for many things. She has been working on her ongoing "Spectral Shadows" serial for decades, posted online in spectralshadows.livejournal.com/, which she calls her "sci-fi fantasy soap opera." But inworld, she was best known for her DJing, notably with her collection of classic rock music. She along with her partner Recoyote Mindes set up the "Perri's Xanadu" classic Rock club, which has been in around since 2010, in operation several times for periods of months. But in recent times, the pressures of her real life problems have been causing her to slow down.

Perri wrote her Symphonic RP blog to write about whatever was on her mind, from discussing what was and what wasn't a certain genre of rock music to the anthropomorphic fiction genre, "I think Furry Fandom gets itself now. They don't need me to explain what it's a fandom for, because there are a lot of new people getting it right these days." One of her last writings was about the passing of the late David Bowe, commenting in a sense he wasn't dead, but would live on as part of his music and how his times would be remembered. But now these and other articles for years are gone, Perri closed access to all but her goodbye, not sure how relavent the thoughts of someone who grew up in the 70s are to today, "I feel the landscape of the Internet has changed, making my older articles unnecessary." Going back, there were articles in 2007 related to Spectral Shadows, with nine years in between missing.

"Tired bunny is tired, more than a little dizzy, and about to pass out. Here's hoping that better days are coming for y'all as the bunny fades away, returning to the dreams from whence she came." She then ended her entry with a youtube of the song "Fade Away" by The Mummers.The day is done,the blinds are drawn,the sound of afternoon is gone.

The corner store has locked it's door,and everyone has left for home.

When their sleepy little heads,settle snug inside their beds, you and I will stay and watch the sun fade away.

The balladeer, the buccaneer,the liar, the man who would be king,

The cavalier, the profiteer, the one who knows only suffering.

As their cannons gather rust,all their castles turn to dust,you and I will stay and see them allfade away.

Hopefully this is not the end for Perri, but a hiatus that will end when her real-life situation improves.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Second Life is not the only virtual world around. There are other freeform virtual worlds, such as InWorldz. But some are a little different. Entropia, designed by the Swedish-based company Mindark, is much like a Massive Multiplayer Online Game with it's options for combat, resource gathering, and quests. But players can trade resources, as well as socialize. In the past, the game has made real life news for the selling of locations for thousands of dollars. Hearing about Entropia, Wesley Regenbogen decided to see for himself how it was.

The "Miss Royalty" group in Second Life has gotten together with the "Autism Speaks" for a series of charity events running until February 20.

Introducing Miss Royalty, JewelOfDeNiel. As part of her royal duties,
she has chosen Autism as her platform. She has teamed up with Autism
Speaks to help make a difference. Join in and help make a mark on Autism

Feb 6-20th runs the Autism Speaks Charity event of the year! Top designers offering exclusive fashions with 100% going to Autism Speaks! Great shopping opportunity for a great cause!!

Autism Speaks describes itself as "founded in February 2005 by Bob
and Suzanne Wright, grandparents of a child with autism. Since then,
Autism Speaks has grown into the world’s leading autism science and
advocacy organization. We are fully committed to investing in our
mission objectives. More than 71 percent of every dollar spent has
funded programs and services in science, family services, awareness and
government advocacy, exceeding Better Business Bureau guidelines each
year."

Thursday, February 11, 2016

The Isle of View, Valentines Day themed place on the Grid by Linden Lab, has gotten a makeover. Last week, the heart-shaped sim of the same name, plus the "Isle of View 2" duplicate island, were taken offline. This week, the Isle is back, bigger than ever. Instead of a one sim island and a duplicate, the place has been expanded to cover four sims.

As it turns out, there's some activities going on at the place, involving both Linden Lab and the Parkinson's charity "Team Fox," which for years has been collecting funds in Second Life through the "Creations for Parkinson's" In the latest official blog post by Xiola Linden, she states that not only do residents have a chance to donate money to the charity there via the purchase of gifts for friends, but Linden Lab promises to match the total raised from them, doubling the amount.

The Isle of View is the perfect place to discover that the truest hallmark of love is
time spent with our loved ones. This year it’s bigger and better than
before - with some rebooted classics and new festivities! ...Visit the Isle of View kiosks any time this month to send virtual
roses and candy hearts to your Second Life friends and sweethearts.
Nothing is better than giving, so the L$ proceeds from the sales of
these gifts will go to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Visit the Isle of View
to select and send your Valentine’s gifts. We’ll match the final total
and double the donation love! How’s that for a sweet pairing?

On Friday February 12, some of the Lindens will be at the Isle for an event (Valentines Day February 14 falls on a Sunday). From 10AM to 12 Noon and 2PM and 4PM SL time, Various Lindens will sit at booths and dunking stools for the "Hug a Linden" and "Dunk a Linden" events."

We understand that love is sometimes
complicated. You have got to work hard to make it work - and we’re not
afraid of a little tough love. ... we'll be mixing things up with the return of Dunk-a-Linden and Hug-a-Linden
booths! You may just meet your virtual Valentine while waiting for a
chance to dunk or hug a Linden - and if you don’t - hey you still got to
dunk or hug a Linden! It’s a win-win situation.

So why not bring back "Kiss a Linden," instead of taking the "Hug a Linden" from the Teen Grid when it was around until it's merger with the main one in 2011? One can only speculate. It's possible the Lab is a bit wary of embarassment if someone chose to prank them with a carnivorous alien (NWN article) or a donkey avatar, in which case, they would be quite literally kissing a resident's you-know-what.